if the applicant is a partnership, an unincorporated association or a corporation, anyone having a qualifying holding must be fit and proper for the sound and prudent conduct of a small PI, and

if the applicant is a corporation with close links to another person, the links mustn’t be likely to prevent our effective supervision of the business (if the link’s outside of the European Economic Area (EEA), foreign laws mustn’t prevent our effective supervision of the business)

You must not provide AIS or PIS

Information you must send

In addition to the 'core details' and declaration forms on Connect, the application to become a small PI comprises:

the application form

PSD individual forms to register each person who will manage your PI

qualifying holdings forms, if applicable

agent forms for anyone who will act on your behalf, if applicable, and

How long it takes

We should acknowledge your application within seven business days. A case officer will then be assigned to your application, to assess the information provided and make a determination.

We will make a decision on your application within:

3 months (if we have all the information and evidence that we need)

12 months (if your application is incomplete)

Please note that we may not accept a submission for authorisation or registration under:

the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (the PSRs) or

Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (the EMRs)

as an application where it fails to provide the minimum information set out in Schedule 2 of the PSRs or Schedule 1 of the EMRs. If we refuse to accept it, we will set out why and refund the application fee. Applicants are welcome to resubmit an application containing all the relevant information at any time.

Refusal

There may be circumstances where your application does not show that the firm can meet the conditions of registration, and we will need to take steps to refuse the application. We will provide you with details of this process.

Apply to become a small electronic money institution (EMI)

Other information we need

You must also include details of:

your electronic money (e-money) business in the form of a business plan

payment services business you may provide to be included in the business plan (if applicable)

your governance arrangements and internal procedures, for example the structures you have in place to run a business effectively people responsible for e-money and payment services businesses (if applicable)

evidence that when you start trading, your e-money business will generate a monthly average outstanding electronic money of less than €5m

evidence that, in the 12 months preceding the application, the monthly average of payment services transactions did not exceed €3m (this assessment can be based on projections if a firm have never traded before), and

a description of how you will safeguard the funds of e-money holders

evidence that you meet your initial capital requirements

Register people who manage your EMI

You must provide information via Connect for any directors and persons responsible for the management of the small EMI and the activities of issuing e-money and payment services.

The application fee

How long it takes

The FCA should acknowledge your application within five business days. A case officer will then be assigned to your application, to assess the information provided and make a determination.

We usually make a determination on your application within:

three months of receipt (if we have all the information and evidence we need), or

12 months of receipt (if your application’s incomplete)

Please note that we may not accept a submission for authorisation or registration under:

the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (the PSRs) or

Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (the EMRs)

as an application where it fails to provide the minimum information set out in Schedule 2 of the PSRs or Schedule 1 of the EMRs. If we refuse to accept it, we will set out why and refund the application fee. Applicants are welcome to resubmit an application containing all the relevant information at any time.

Refusal

If your application does not appear to satisfy the conditions of registration, we will take steps to refuse the application. If so, we will give you details of the refusal process should the situation arise.